HERITAGE COUNCIL DETERMINATION Determination Date Thursday 7 April 2016 Place/Object Name Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead Location 70 Tyntynder Homestead Road, Beverford VHR Number H2353 Place Category Heritage Place At a meeting of the Heritage Council on 7 April 2016 it was determined to include this place in the Victorian Heritage Register. The Heritage Council endorses the attached report. Professor Stuart Macintyre AO Chair, Heritage Council of Victoria ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RECOMMENDATION TO THE HERITAGE COUNCIL NAME TYNTYNDYER (TYNTYNDER) HOMESTEAD LOCATION 70 TYNTYNDER HOMESTEAD ROAD, BEVERFORD VHR NUMBER: VHR H2353 CATEGORY: HERITAGE PLACE FILE NUMBER: 14/003598-1 HERMES NUMBER: 2066 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RECOMMENDATION TO THE HERITAGE COUNCIL: • That Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead be included as a Heritage Place in the Victorian Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1995 [Section 32 (1)(a)]. TIM SMITH Executive Director Recommendation Date: 22 January 2016 Name: Tyntynder Homestead, Beverford Hermes Number: 2066 Page | 1 EXTENT OF NOMINATION To the extent of the land Lots 1 & 2 on Title Plan 857530, Lot 1 on Title Plan 663844 and Lot 4 on Lodged Plan 10404. Name: Tyntynder Homestead, Beverford Hermes Number: 2066 Page | 2 RECOMMENDED REGISTRATION All of the place shown h atched on Diagram 2353 encompassing all of Lots 1 and 2 on Title Plan 857530, all of Lot 1 on Title Plan 663844 and all of Lot 4 on Lodged Plan 10404. The extent of registration of Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead in the Victorian Heritage Register affects the whole place shown on Diagram 2353 including the land, all buildings (including the interiors and exteriors), grave, roads, trees, landscape and other features. Name: Tyntynder Homestead, Beverford Hermes Number: 2066 Page | 3 AERIAL PHOTO OF THE PLACE SHOWING PROPOSED REGISTRATION Name: Tyntynder Homestead, Beverford Hermes Number: 2066 Page | 4 STATEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT? Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead, including the homestead building, store and cellar building, shed and the grave of Andrew Beveridge. History Summary Brothers Andrew and Peter Beveridge travelled to the far north-west of Victoria in 1845 and established one of the first European settlements on the Victorian side of the Murray River at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead. A third brother, George, who followed, established the nearby station Piangil where Andrew was killed by Aboriginal people in 1846, allegedly over stolen sheep. The resulting Melbourne trial of three Aboriginal people, Bobby, Ptolemy and Bullet-eye, and the public execution of Bobby and Ptolemy, was a significant event demonstrating the tensions and conflict of the period. Following this event the Beveridge parents and three other brothers joined those at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) from 1847 to 1853. Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead was developed from 1846 with construction of a drop log homestead building that year. In 1854 brick additions were made to this homestead and a brick store and cellar building were constructed. Peter Beveridge remained at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) until the late 1860s and developed a keen interest in, and an extensive knowledge of, the Aboriginal people of the region. He learnt their languages and customs and employed large numbers of Aboriginal people on his property. He wrote extensively on Aboriginal customs, becoming well known on the subject by the late 1860s. His knowledge and insights became important to Europeans’ understanding of the Aboriginal people in the region, and became influential in anthropological circles. During Peter’s occupancy, Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) was used as an Honorary Correspondent Supply Depot for the distribution of government rations to the Aboriginal community from 1863 to 1866. In 1876 the Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) pastoral run was sold to the Holloway family and successive generations retained ownership for 120 years. The property, much reduced in extent, was set up as a house museum and opened for guided tours by the owners from the 1960s for a period of time. In 1996 the Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead property, including the buildings and their contents, was purchased by the Indigenous Land Council on behalf of the Aboriginal community. Description Summary Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is situated on a sandy rise south of the Murray River to the north of Swan Hill and consists of a number of buildings and structures relating to its use as a sheep station and later as a tourist facility. The original section of the Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead was constructed as a simple gabled, two-roomed building using drop log construction and Murray pine sapling rafters covered with timber shingles. This building was encased in brickwork in c1850s, however part of the log construction remains visible in the interior of the building. In 1854 a brick addition, with similar roof construction, was made to the south, more than doubling the accommodation of the original building. A verandah to the east faced the river and a terraced garden which was developed with various trees and planting. Corrugated galvanised iron covers the original shingled roofs of the homestead. A separate building, originally containing a cellar, storeroom and men’s quarters, was constructed in 1854 and this was converted for use as a school room, tutor’s room and bedroom during Holloway family ownership. This building is of simple gabled brick form with sapling rafters and corrugated galvanised iron roof. Other farm buildings were constructed at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) over a period of time and some of these have been demolished. Those that remain include a shed which incorporates a portion of limestone wall from the blacksmith’s Name: Tyntynder Homestead, Beverford Hermes Number: 2066 Page | 5 building. A number of additions to the homestead, particularly to the west and north, a notched log building and buildings to the north of the homestead were constructed in the late 1960s-70s. Andrew Beveridge’s grave lies to the south-west of the homestead. The original headstone and surround been replaced, however the original broken inscription plaque is fixed to the grave. The site is part of Wadi Wadi country. HOW IS IT SIGNIFICANT? Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register: Criterion A Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history. Criterion D Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects. Criterion H Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history. WHY IS IT SIGNIFICANT? Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is significant at the State level for the following reasons: Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of historical significance as one of the earliest surviving homesteads built at a remote pastoral station in Victoria. The buildings erected between 1846 and 1854 provide evidence of the earliest phase of post-contact settlement in north-western Victoria. [Criterion A] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of historical significance as a place of early interaction between Aboriginal people and European settlers in Victoria and demonstrates the shared histories of these communities. The place was important as an Honorary Correspondent Supply Depot for the distribution of rations to the Aboriginal community. [Criterion A] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of architectural significance as an intact surviving example of an early colonial vernacular homestead in Victoria and as a demonstration of early timber bush construction. The earliest 1846 section demonstrates the use of drop log construction and both the 1846 and 1854 sections display the use of round Murray pine sapling roof members and shingle roofing. The latter components are clearly visible in the verandah structure of the 1854 section. Clay bricks used in these early phases of construction were made on the site. [Criterion D] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of significance for its association with Peter Beveridge, who wrote extensively on the subject of the Aboriginal people of Australia. His work, based on knowledge gained during his occupation of Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead from the late 1840s to the late 1860s, provided European Victorians with insight into, and understanding of, the Aboriginal people of Australia in this early period. Beveridge also displayed a keen interest in natural history and the local flora and fauna and assisted Ferdinand von Mueller with his plant collections at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. [Criterion H] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is also significant for the following reasons, but not at the State level: Name: Tyntynder Homestead, Beverford Hermes Number: 2066 Page | 6 The remnants of nineteenth and twentieth century landscaping, trees and plants all contribute to an understanding of the development of Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead. The homestead complex is on a sandy rise and is surrounded on the north, west and south sides by a Pepper Tree windbreak, totalling eighteen Schinus molle trees. The main garden features three terraces on the east side and is planted with two Olea europaea trees, a rare Justicia adhatoda, (Malabar Nut) and, on the central terrace, five Washingtonia filifera formally planted along the main path, and two Phoenix canariensis. The lower eastern